On Sept. 16, the University of New Haven held a campus-wide meeting in Bucknall Hall for the University’s staff members. The purpose of the meeting was to enlightened them on various topics concerning the students, staff, and overall status of the University.

Among the topics discussed were diversity and inclusions, New American Colleges and Universities benchmarking, financial challenges, academic updates, and budget planning.

A few of the highlights included the welcoming of 181 new faculty and staff members to UNH since Sept. 1, 2014.

Among the newly hired members was Walter Caffey, Vice President for enrollment management, Stephen Morin, Vice President for advancement, Brian Kench, Dean for the College of Business, and Charles Skipton, Associate Dean for the College of Business.

Concerning the diversity of the University, President Kaplan and Carol Koziatek, Vice President of Human Resources, shared about recent accomplishments that UNH has achieved to encourage a more diverse atmosphere.

“It’s a very diverse world and that’s a very good thing,” Kaplan said.

Additional training for staff and students is in the near future for the University to continue to expand UNH’s differences.

Among other good news for UNH, the University has recently accepted the invitation to join the New American Colleges and Universities (NAC&U), a prestigious group of independent colleges dedicated to the integration of liberal arts education, professional studies and civic engagement. Being a part of the NAC&U allows UNH to compare data with other similar private colleges. This data includes acceptance rates, fundraising, retention rates, and research money.

Comparing the University to others in the NAC&U, Kaplan said “I think we can do what they are doing, we just have to get better at it.”

Financial challenges were also discussed in the meeting. Significant budget issues were addressed, including budget freezes on newly hired positions and the need for students to take more credit hours per semester.

“There is no reason we can’t get through this and continue to grow,” said George Synodi, Vice President for Finance.

On a higher note, academic updates involved a conceptual vision and design of a new academic building.

There have been no final decisions on what will be put into this building.

Choosing what departments go there and how the space is utilized will be a competitive process.

The vision is to have a major center for collaborative design, discovery, and engagement.
This is all part of UNH’s experiential learning environment.